Webcomics

Yesterday, I reviewed I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest and since that is a book that deals heavily with webcomics I thought today it might be fun to mention a few of the webcomics that I read or have read in the past.
Now, I’ll be honest, I’m pretty bad at keeping up with ongoing comics both on the web and in single issues. I’ve got a digital subscription to several comics so that the books can get that important on-sale-date sales, but I usually end up waiting to read anything until I can get it in trade paperback. I want to support the books I love, but I just don’t really like reading in such short installments.
Webcomics are very similar to me. I’ll binge-read months if not years of the comic at a time, but I’m terrible about remembering to check them daily. And in some cases (Digger) I actually just wait until a book has been published and read the whole thing that way.

Digger by Ursula Vernon
I’ve already done a review of Digger, so I’ll be very brief. Digger is the story of an anthropomorphic wombat who, through no fault of her own, ends up on an adventure involving gods, demons, and even more anthropomorphic hyenas. The whole thing, which is an 823 page book, is still available for free online.

Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell
Much like Digger, Gunnerkrigg Court is available on the web for free, but it has also been collected into books if you’re not comfortable reading online for long periods or if you just want to support the creator by making a purchase.
Antimony is a very smart, very self-possessed young girl who has started her first year at Gunnerkrigg Court, a boarding school in the best British tradition. The school is something like a technological Hogwarts. Robots and alchemy and forest spirits all conspire to make Antimony’s school years a bit more exciting than planned.

A Girl and Her Fed by K.B. Spangler
A Girl and Her Fed is about a young reporter who discovers that she’s being watched by the government. Except… it’s a little more complicated than that. the Fed has a chip in his head that gives him access to any computer information ever. Unfortunately, the UI is a tiny cartoon of George W. Bush. The Girl either talks to the ghost of Benjamin Franklin, or she talks to a persistent LSD flashback that looks like the ghost of Benjamin Franklin. Also, together they discover a massive, scary conspiracy that they and their respective presidents have to deal with.
K.B. is redoing the comics from their original low-res, black & white state to the shiny new hi-res color, but if you read straight through you might run into the archive gap. The comic has not been collected and bound, but there are novels set in the same universe if you like it and want more.

Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques
QC is a comic about an extended group of friends living in Northampton, MA in the near future. The major difference is that AI are a thing and people’s computers are tiny adorable robots. Well… mostly adorable. The main character is pretty typical of the disaffected post-graduate wannabe musician. But his extended group of friends get pretty cool. Much like with many webcomics, the early strips are pretty rough. The art gets much, much, much better as it goes along. 
Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew
Esentially, a D&D campaign told in stick figures. It sounds weird and it is, but it is also awesome.

Schlock Mercenary by Howard Tayler
Schlock Mercenary is a very long ongoing comic written and drawn by Howard Tayler. It focuses on a group of mercenaries in a distant post-scarcity future. They mostly blow stuff up. It is predominantly a humor comic, but ever now and then Howard will break you just a little. 

XKCD by Randall Munroe
XKCD is the other famous stick figure comic on my list. It’s… a little bit about everything and the one about the Mars rover will make you cry if you have any soul left.
Although, mostly it’s about science. But also sometimes history. And occasionally people being wrong on the internet.

The Oatmeal by Matthew Inman
They’re… kind of ugly drawings that are really funny? I’m not sure how to explain The Oatmeal, but you’ve probably seen it before. Also, his cat book his hilarious and the comic about the dog is really sad. Why? Why must you all make such things that are so true and yet so sad? But also funny?
Oh! and he has a game called Exploding Kittens. So, there’s that.

Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik
This is a comic about gaming. Mostly. Sometimes there are much longer story arcs and some of them are truly awesome. Automata is my favorite.
Usually, the jokes center around either things that happen in a video game or within the greater gaming culture. As the creators have moved more into games I don’t play I haven’t read it as much, but there are some good strips.

The Devil’s Panties by Jennie Breeden
This is a semi-autobiographical comic/journal that happens based around Jennie’s life. So, there are lots of things about being an artist, going out, staying in, and being all kinds of nifty. The whole run is free online, but also as a set of shiny graphic novels!
Jennie is also famous at DragonCon for her annual Kilt Blowing extravaganza. (Yes, it’s pretty much what it sounds like; Men + Kilts + leaf blower = an awesome night for the rest of us!)